Fixing the Dropout Crisis, Part I
by teachbad
Last night I attended a Teacher Town Hall on the dropout crisis in Washington, DC. It was hosted by Howard University Television (WHUT) and WAMU, our local public radio station.
All in all, it was a little underwhelming. In addition, my quest for international superstardom was again thwarted. I had signed up to attend and indicated that I was not currently a classroom teacher when I did so. When I got there I was not admitted because I was not currently a teacher. Because they didn’t fill up all the seats some of us were told we could sit in the studio so long as we did not speak. I declined and stayed in the overflow room to watch.
Much of what the teachers shared were anecdotal stories of how they had helped some student. One teacher shared her point system, another her positive affirmations; things like that. There was little by way of systemic ideas and a lot of descriptions of extra-school issues that contribute to under-achievement.
Two of the best comments were from friends and former colleagues Cosby Hunt and Sharifa Edwards. Cosby noted the importance of retaining teachers; meaning giving them the support and respect they need to want to stay. This is clearly an afterthought for DCPS. Sharifa talked about the students she neglects because she has to spend all of her time messing around with those at the bottom.
I’ll have more to say about this later, after I watch the whole thing again. But one generalization I can make is that the
